Hidden Haligonians: Matthew Trivett

One might call him the Don Cherry of esports?

Trivett’s shoutcasting career exploded from a charity event at Dal to professional video gaming’s centre stage.

Turner Sports/TBS

Ukraine, Finland and Korea are just a few of the places of the places Matthew Trivett has travelled for his job, shoutcasting (that is, commentating) for esports. Esports are professional video game competitions—you may have seen ads for events hosted by Cineplex the last time you were at the movies.

"I always kind of harp on about the legitimacy of the industry, and it is massive," Trivett says.

Trivett first dipped into the gaming world as a player, mainly interested in Call of Duty. He started publicly shoutcasting at Frag for Cancer, a video games tournament for charity at Dalhousie University. Trivett was studying photography at NSCAD at the time, but this event got him noticed for a totally different talent. From there, he was asked to shoutcast at l'École de technologie supérieure in Montreal, which was hosting the biggest esports event in Canada at the time. He was then picked up by the Esports Entertainment Association for a few events in the United States.

"This was all putting in a lot of time and not getting a lot of return, so even then it was still a hobby," says Trivett.

Helena Kristiansson

That changed in January 2015, when he was selected for the X Games. "That is when my career just blew up," he says, "and within months I was back and forth from Europe every week."

Eventually, Trivett gave up his Halifax apartment. He travels way too often to justify keeping a place in his hometown. He basically lives out of a suitcase, with his "home base" being in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, where his parents live.

Aside from his role at events, Trivett co-hosts a podcast called Drop The Bomb, which focuses on the first person shooter Counter-Strike. The show's YouTube channel has more than 10,000 subscribers.

While esports have taken off in Europe, Trivett says it's only making small waves in Canada, with events mainly concentrated in cities such as Montreal and Toronto.

"It's definitely not taken seriously enough in North America," says Trivett, but he also feels esports are expanding. What's more, he's getting a front-row seat on the action to watch them grow.